Fitness equipment meter display storage

ABSTRACT

A fitness equipment meter display storage apparatus includes a fitness equipment body and a meter installed on a frame at the front of the fitness equipment body and having a button/signal input unit on a surface of the meter for transmitting a signal to an internal microprocessor. The meter includes a microprocessor MCU in the meter, a power supply unit for supplying required electric power, an AV OUT control element connected to the microprocessor for outputting the data of the microprocessor by audio and video signals, and a large display device having an AV IN control element connected to the AV OUT control element of the meter through an AV signal line for displaying the exercise status of a user, such that the user can know about the exercise volume and the whole physiological condition while doing exercises, so as to make an appropriate adjustment for the best exercise effect.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a fitness equipment meter apparatus, and more particularly to a meter apparatus having an AV OUT component that works with any AV IN display device available in the market for displaying exercise statuses, and the meter has a USB socket for storing exercise data anywhere, analyzing the data in a personal computer and communicating with a trainer via network.

2. Description of the Related Art

Since present fitness equipments such as treadmills and fitness bikes are not restricted by outdoor environments and exercisers can obtain the required exercise and fitness effect through the fitness equipments, therefore these fitness equipments become very popular.

The fitness equipment basically includes related electronic control elements such as sensors for detecting exercise data of speed, mileage and heartbeat, etc, inputting the data into a meter 10 and displaying the data on a small LCD panel 11 as shown in FIG. 1, so as to achieve the effect of displaying a user's exercise volume and physical conditions.

Further, most present fitness equipments come with an application of a magnetic control resistance load device which has a function similar to a variable speed used for changing the resistance for the jogging or stepping exercise to meet the physical fitness of different users, so as to achieve the best exercise status and display the resistance of the exercise on the small LCD panel 11.

However, the size of the small LCD panel 11 on the meter 10 is very small, and users have to lower their head to view the meter 10 inconveniently during the exercise, and thus such fitness equipment cannot be used for many other applications due to the limitation of their display mechanism. Obviously, the poor display mechanism of the prior art fitness equipment requires improvements.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, it is a primary object of the invention to provide a fitness equipment meter display storage apparatus, and its meter has an AV OUT control element that can operate with any large display having an AV IN display device, so that a user can know about the exercise and the overall physiological condition while doing exercises and make adjustments anytime to achieve the best exercise effect.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a fitness equipment meter display storage apparatus, and its meter has a USB socket for storing exercise data, carrying the exercise data anywhere, analyzing the data in a personal computer, or interacting with a trainer/doctor via a network, so as to perform a complete analysis and evaluation to achieve the bidirectional communication effect.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned objects, a fitness equipment meter display storage apparatus in accordance with the invention includes:

a) a fitness equipment body; and

b) a meter installed on a frame at the front of the fitness equipment body and having a button/signal input unit disposed on a surface of the meter for transmitting a signal to an internal microprocessor; characterized in that the meter comprises:

-   -   i) a microprocessor MCU installed in the meter and having a         power supply unit for supplying required electric power;     -   ii) an AV OUT control element coupled to the microprocessor for         outputting the data of the microprocessor by audio and video         signals; and     -   iii) a large display device having an AV IN control element and         coupled to the AV OUT control element of the meter by an AV         signal line for displaying the exercise status of a user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of using a prior art fitness equipment;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a structure of a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a main structure of a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of an application of the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of another application of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 2 to 4 for a meter display apparatus in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the meter display apparatus comprises the following elements:

A fitness equipment body 20 includes but not limited to a treadmill in this embodiment, but any other fitness equipment such as a fitness bike is intended to be covered by the scope of the present invention.

A meter 10 is installed on a frame 21 at the front of the fitness equipment body 20, and a surface of the meter 10 has a button/signal input unit 12 for setting a user's value and transmitting different parameter signals to an internal microprocessor 13. The meter 10 may or may not adopt a small LCD panel 11 on the surface of the meter.

The microprocessor 13 as shown in FIG. 3 is installed in the meter 10, and a power supply unit 14 is provided for supplying required electric power. The power supply unit is composed of a battery installed in the meter 10 or an external power going through a voltage conversion.

An AV OUT control element 101 is connected to the microprocessor 13 for outputting data of the microprocessor 13 by audio and video signals.

A large display device 16 has an AV IN control element 161, which is connected to the AV OUT control element 101 of the meter 10 through an AV signal line 15 and provided for displaying a user's exercise status. The large display device 16 as shown in FIG. 3 can be installed to a fixed object (not shown in the figure) at an appropriate position of the front of the fitness equipment body 20 or fixed the frame 21 by a fixing object (not shown in the figure) to achieve the purpose of connecting with the meter 10.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the meter 10 of the invention further comprises a USB socket 17, for inserting and connecting a portable storage element 30 having a USB interface. The portable storage element 30 is composed of a flash disk or a MPEG Layer3 (MP3) disk.

In FIG. 3, the microprocessor 13 includes a load control device 18 connected to the microprocessor 13 in a fitness equipment body 20 for adjusting a predetermined exercise resistance, and the load control device is comprised of a controller and a magnetic control device, which are prior art and not thus will not be described here.

Referring to FIGS. 2 to 4 for the present invention, a voltage detection unit 40 is installed at a frame of the fitness equipment body 20 for detecting a heartbeat, and connected to the microprocessor 13 in the meter 10, such that when a user hold the voltage detection unit 40 by both hands, the user's blood circulation will produce a voltage. If the heartbeat rate varies, the voltage frequency will be different. Therefore, this principle is applied for detecting a heartbeat when the user touches the voltage detection unit 40 by both left and right hands. A signal is transmitted to the microprocessor 13, and the microprocessor 13 converts the signal into a heartbeat/pulse chart and display the heartbeat and pulse on the large display device 16, so that users can know about the change of their heartbeat at a glance during exercisers conveniently.

Further, the heartbeat detection mode can be set to wireless transmission, so that a heartbeat detector 50 is worn at a user's wrist or tied to a user's chest. When the heartbeat detection unit 51 detects a heartbeat frequency signal, a wireless transmission circuit 52 sends out a signal, and a wireless receiving circuit 19 installed in the meter 10 transmits the received signal to the processor 13, so that the user's heartbeat changing chart can be displayed on the large display device 16, and users can know about their exercise status synchronously.

With the aforementioned technical measures, the present invention has the following effects and improvements.

1. The invention installs the AV OUT control element 101 connected to the microprocessor 13 in the meter 10, and thus the invention can be used with any display device having an AV IN control element, such that users can know about the exercise volume and the whole physiological condition while doing exercises, so as to make an appropriate adjustment for the best exercise effect.

2. The invention installs the USB socket 17 connected to the microprocessor 13 on the meter 10, for facilitating an electric connection to the portable storage element 30, and storing the data temporarily stored in the microprocessor 13 into the portable storage element 30. After the data is accumulated for a period of time such as a week, a month or a year as shown in FIG. 5, and the portable storage element 30 is connected to a personal computer 61, an Auto Run program built in the portable storage element 30 displays all personal exercise conditions including heartbeat, speed and exercise time for a period of time immediately on a personal computer 61 to facilitate users to know their own physiological condition. In FIG. 6, the collected user data is transmitted automatically, logged on and linked to a platform server 62 by a personal computer 61 and also linked to a service provider server 63, such that a doctor/trainer at a remote site can obtain the user's physiological information from the personal computer 64 for periodic tracking and suggestions. In FIG. 6, the doctor/trainer can send the analysis and evaluation and inform the user through telephone or E-mail or upload the data to the service provider server 63, and users can know about the doctor/trainer's analysis reports or suggestions through the platform server 62 from their personal computer 61 conveniently.

Many changes and modifications in the above-described embodiments of the invention can, of course, be carried out without departing from the scope thereof. Accordingly, to promote the progress in science and the useful arts, the invention is disclosed and is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims. 

1. A fitness equipment meter display storage apparatus, comprising: a) a fitness equipment body; and b) a meter installed on a frame at the front of the fitness equipment body and having a button/signal input unit disposed on a surface of the meter for transmitting a signal to an internal microprocessor; characterized in that the meter comprises: i) a microprocessor MCU installed in the meter and having a power supply unit for supplying required electric power; ii) an AV OUT control element coupled to the microprocessor for outputting the data of the microprocessor by audio and video signals; and iii) a large display device having an AV IN control element and coupled to the AV OUT control element of the meter by an AV signal line for displaying the exercise status of a user.
 2. The fitness equipment meter display storage apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the meter further comprises a USB socket, for plugging in a storage element having a USB interface.
 3. The fitness equipment meter display storage apparatus as recited in claim 2, wherein the portable storage element is one selected from the collection of a flash disk and a MP3 disk.
 4. The fitness equipment meter display storage apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the microprocessor comprises a load control device connected with the microprocessor in the fitness equipment body for adjusting a predetermined exercise resistance.
 5. The fitness equipment meter display storage apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the frame of the fitness equipment body further comprises a voltage detection unit for detecting a heartbeat, and the voltage detection unit is connected to the microprocessor.
 6. The fitness equipment meter display storage apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the microprocessor further includes a wireless receiving circuit connected to the microprocessor for receiving a heartbeat frequency signal issued by a heartbeat detector worn/tied on the user's hand/body. 